Wings off season moves.

83 posts in this topic

With the NHL season close to being finished this means it will soon be the off season and free agency. I was just curious to see what other people though would be the Wings moves this off season. Here is what I think the Wings will do during the off season.

Lets start with the forwards. Helm, Maltby, Abdelkader, Miller, Williams, Bertuzzi, Eaves, and Holmstrom contracts are up. I think Eaves, Miller, and Helm are a lock to be resigned they play key energy roles and pk roles. Abdelkader will also be signed he is young and has plenty of potential. Bertuzzi has been a pleasant surprise for the wings and they should sign him for another year. Holmstrom has been as valuable as he always has looks like he got a few more years in him and the wings will surely sign him again. That leaves Maltby and Williams. For the most part Williams have shown glimpse of scoring touch but other then that he been pretty invisible. I do not believe he will be resigned. I also think Maltby might retire or the wings just won't sign him. So that is roughly 2.4 million off the cap. I do realize I have no accounted for the raise player like Helm and Eaves are going to receive we are just going to presume the raise the players get are going to be counter balanced by the pay decrease of others because well I have no idea who will get payed what and I am just trying to make conversation

Now the defense. We have Lidstrom, Lebda, Meech, and Lilja. Obviously we are going to want Lidstrom the big question is will he play or not and if he does how much will he play for. If he doesn't thats 7.5 million of cap space open up. If he does I can see him playing for anywhere between 2 million and 5 million. So Nick is going to open us up too 2.5 million and 5.5 million with a hall a fame d-man or 7.5 million looking for a replacement not really sure. Just for the best case scenario we will say Lidstrom plays one more year for 3 million that open up for 4.5 million dollars. I think Lilja will stay because he has stabilized or back end quite a bit since his return so he will probably get a one year contract. With Kindl coming up that leaves 7 defense men so Lebda and Meech will not be resigned. So thats an additional 1 million freed of the cap.

So in this scenario we would have 12 forwards, 7 defense and 7.9 million in cap space not including if the cap increase. I won't even get into the goal tending situation because I have no idea how Holland is going to fix that because I don't think you could really on Howard for an entire season with Osgood backing him up as bad as he has played this year and last.

Any ways let me know if you have any opinions or predictions on the Red Wings off season.

I believe Helm, Eaves, Miller, Abdelkader and Ritola are restricted free agents. They shouldn't be too hard to sign.

I think it's likely that Holmstrom takes a slight pay cut with a salary of 1.7-2.

I also think it's likely that Lilja takes a slight pay cut to be at .9-1m. Some people on other forums think he'll command 2-2.5 mil but I don't see that happening since his numbers on the offensive end aren't much.

It's likely that Bertuzzi will score more points than last year. I'm not sure if he has played well enough to seriously consider offers from other teams. He'll evaluate every situation and he might go somewhere else but if they want him back and if he wants to stay then I can see him signing for a contract that isn't significantly different from this year's. I know we'd all like an upgrade at that position but I suppose overall that he's been good for his role.

I know we all like the think that Lidstrom will take a huge pay cut but I still see him as the highest paid defenseman on the team for around 6-6.3 mil.

It's definitely possible to have the aforementioned roster. It's not all that ideal but it's still a good team that can compete.

Edited March 30, 2010 by titanium2

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I hope the wings sign Colby Armstrong. He seems to be the type of guy that Babs would like since he's good for 20 goals and is feisty. I could see Bert not getting resigned in favour of Armstrong. Armstrong Abs and Helm would be a really fun line to watch.

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With the NHL season close to being finished this means it will soon be the off season and free agency. I was just curious to see what other people though would be the Wings moves this off season. Here is what I think the Wings will do during the off season.

Lets start with the forwards. Helm, Maltby, Abdelkader, Miller, Williams, Bertuzzi, Eaves, and Holmstrom contracts are up. I think Eaves, Miller, and Helm are a lock to be resigned they play key energy roles and pk roles. Abdelkader will also be signed he is young and has plenty of potential. Bertuzzi has been a pleasant surprise for the wings and they should sign him for another year. Holmstrom has been as valuable as he always has looks like he got a few more years in him and the wings will surely sign him again. That leaves Maltby and Williams. For the most part Williams have shown glimpse of scoring touch but other then that he been pretty invisible. I do not believe he will be resigned. I also think Maltby might retire or the wings just won't sign him. So that is roughly 2.4 million off the cap. I do realize I have no accounted for the raise player like Helm and Eaves are going to receive we are just going to presume the raise the players get are going to be counter balanced by the pay decrease of others because well I have no idea who will get payed what and I am just trying to make conversation

Now the defense. We have Lidstrom, Lebda, Meech, and Lilja. Obviously we are going to want Lidstrom the big question is will he play or not and if he does how much will he play for. If he doesn't thats 7.5 million of cap space open up. If he does I can see him playing for anywhere between 2 million and 5 million. So Nick is going to open us up too 2.5 million and 5.5 million with a hall a fame d-man or 7.5 million looking for a replacement not really sure. Just for the best case scenario we will say Lidstrom plays one more year for 3 million that open up for 4.5 million dollars. I think Lilja will stay because he has stabilized or back end quite a bit since his return so he will probably get a one year contract. With Kindl coming up that leaves 7 defense men so Lebda and Meech will not be resigned. So thats an additional 1 million freed of the cap.

So in this scenario we would have 12 forwards, 7 defense and 7.9 million in cap space not including if the cap increase. I won't even get into the goal tending situation because I have no idea how Holland is going to fix that because I don't think you could really on Howard for an entire season with Osgood backing him up as bad as he has played this year and last.

Any ways let me know if you have any opinions or predictions on the Red Wings off season.

Guest Lidstromboli

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Yes, seriously. I think he would come cheap and I don't think that he is washed up or anything. He scored 50 some goals on Thornton's wing. Don't you think he could get at least 25-30 on Datsyuk's wing?

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Guest EZBAKETHAGANGSTA

Well it worked out pretty well seeing as that roster was the closet possible to winning it all, despite having two of their star players playing at far less than capable. You do realize that if the situation for the 08-09 team had been the same for the 07-08 team, the wings would have easily won the cup right?

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I wouldn't mind seeing Filppula traded.He's been a bit of a disappointment..

Have you been drinking? Fil has nearly as many points (could potentially get the same number) as last year, in a third less games. He has 9 points in the last 8 games, and something like 26 points since he's been back from his injury (~33 games or so). I don't know where the disappointment is in those numbers...

On topic, Our lines most likely will stay similar to what they are now. Williams will probably be traded, hopefully we keep Eaves and Miller. As much as I hate to say it, I'd like to see Hudler come back :-/

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Have you been drinking? Fil has nearly as many points (could potentially get the same number) as last year, in a third less games. He has 9 points in the last 8 games, and something like 26 points since he's been back from his injury (~33 games or so). I don't know where the disappointment is in those numbers...

Well Said!

On topic, Our lines most likely will stay similar to what they are now. Williams will probably be traded, hopefully we keep Eaves and Miller. As much as I hate to say it, I'd like to see Hudler come back :-/

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lol ok so just did a new GM mode in NHL10 and at the end of the season Lidstrom,Maltby,May,Draper all retired, anyways before i started the season i traded Williams to the Oilers for Comrie, and i scratched Maltby and put in Abby.These are the lines i ran we finished 2pts back SJ for top in the West. In the brackets are the points they finished with at the end of the season. anyways i did it to see how Comrie would do because i like him as a player and he is a free agent this off-season and would be a good fit for his cheap salary. and after Lids retired i signed Willie Mitchell at 3.75mill

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if hudler comes back and lids stays.Bertuzzi has had a good year with the Wings through all the injuries and mixing of lines all season, i think we resign him put him on the 3rd line and have Ritola subbing in and out the line-up thoughout the season, and for Miller i like him but Eaves is worth more in my opinion better PK and ill take Berts 44pts over Millers 19pts. I think if we had this line up next season we should be alright.

Franzen-Datsyuk-Holmstrom

Zetterberg-Filppula-Hudler

Cleary-Abdelkader-Bertuzzi

Eaves-Helm-Draper

Ritola

Lidstrom-Rafalski

Kronwall-Stuart

Lilja-Kindl

Meech

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if hudler comes back and lids stays.Bertuzzi has had a good year with the Wings through all the injuries and mixing of lines all season, i think we resign him put him on the 3rd line and have Ritola subbing in and out the line-up thoughout the season, and for Miller i like him but Eaves is worth more in my opinion better PK and ill take Berts 44pts over Millers 19pts. I think if we had this line up next season we should be alright.

Franzen-Datsyuk-Holmstrom

Zetterberg-Filppula-Hudler

Cleary-Abdelkader-Bertuzzi

Eaves-Helm-Draper

Ritola

Lidstrom-Rafalski

Kronwall-Stuart

Lilja-Kindl

Meech

Bertuzzi's had his share of hot and cold streaks.I say release Bertuzzi and trade Hudler's rights to New Jersey for David Clarkson and sign Colby Armstrong.

Franzen-Datsyuk-Holmstrom

Zetterberg-Filppula-Armstrong

Cleary-Abdelkader-Clarkson

Miller-Helm-Eaves

Draper/Ritola

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Then we are looking at a Wings roster starting from a base of seven forwards, five defensemen, and two goaltenders with a combined cap hit of $43,662,876 which means the team needs to sign six more forwards and two more defensemen, plus perhaps one additional skater, and has $14,037,124 in cap space to do it with.

Free agent skaters from this year's roster:

Forwards:

RFA: Abdelkader, Eaves, Helm, Miller, Ritola

UFA: Bertuzzi, Holmstrom, Maltby, May, Williams

Defense:

RFA: Meech

UFA: Janik, Lebda, Lidstrom, Lilja

Likely, the Wings will sign six forwards and three defensemen, and leave the 23rd roster slot empty.

So the situation is, who do you add to the roster?

F: Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Franzen, Filppula, Hudler, Cleary, Draper.

D: Rafalski, Stuart, Kronwall, Ericsson, Kindl

G: Osgood, Howard

The Wings need some bottom-six forwards. They also need to re-sign Lidstrom, or sign another top-pairing defenseman to replace him.

We'll go with a couple of reasonable assumptions here.

1) Older players with a history of injury who have accomplished major goals and suffered major injury recently often end up retiring.

2) The Wings have recently been looking towards getting younger, while retaining a focus on home-grown players as much as possible.

3) The Wings' playing style focuses on two-way play and puck possession, but with an added element of grit and physicality that is often overlooked because their star players are not as gritty as their support players.

So; We'll say that Maltby and Lilja are likely to retire. Holmstrom and Bertuzzi both are possibilities for retirement as well. The Wings will likely re-sign forwards Abdelkader, Eaves, Helm, and Miller, and will probably keep one of Homer or Bert, most likely Homer. Overall, expect a total of $5.5m-$6m spent on these forwards. On defense, Lidstrom is likely to return, and the Wings are unlikely to place either Ericsson or Kindl in a 7th defenseman role; it is more likely they will shake up the defensive pairings and we see less of Lids/Raffi and Kronner/Stuart with Ericsson and Kindl slipping in on shifts with skilled vets. Meech is the most likely defenseman to be signed for the 7th defenseman role, as he has proven effective when called upon, and the Wings are unlikely to sign a defenseman who makes more than Kindl or Ericsson specifically for the 7th defenseman role when for peanuts they can retain a young, home-grown defenseman like Meech who is developing well into a solid all-around defenseman.

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